Ex-Labour comms chief suspended over links to sex offender

Lord Doyle, Sir Keir Starmer's former director of communications, has been suspended from Labour's parliamentary party over his links with a convicted sex offender.

The peer said he would not take the Labour whip and apologised for his past association with Sean Morton, a former Labour councillor who admitted indecent child image offences in 2017.

It comes after the Sunday Times reported that Lord Doyle campaigned for Morton after he was charged with possessing and distributing indecent images of children in December 2016.

"At the point of my campaigning support, Morton repeatedly asserted to all those who knew him his innocence, including initially in court," Lord Doyle said.

He added: "To have not ceased support ahead of a judicial conclusion was a clear error of judgement for which I apologise unreservedly.

"Those of us who took [Morton] at his word were clearly mistaken. I have never sought to dismiss or diminish the seriousness of the offences for which he was rightly convicted. They are clearly abhorrent and I have never questioned his conviction.

"Following his conviction any contact was extremely limited and I have not seen or spoken to him in years. Twice I was at events organised by other people, which he attended, and once I saw him to check on his welfare after concerns were raised through others."

Lord Doyle was given a peerage by the prime minister in December and was sworn in to the Lords last month.

The BBC understands Downing Street was not aware Lord Doyle had campaigned for Morton at the time of his appointment.

The Sunday Times first reported about Lord Doyle's campaigning for Morton in December last year and last week the Conservatives called for details of the peer's vetting to be published.

A Labour Party Spokesperson said: "All complaints are assessed thoroughly in line with our rules and procedures."

The party is undertaking an investigation and Lord Doyle's Labour whip in the House of Lords has been withdrawn while this is ongoing.

Sir Keir faced questions about Lord Doyle's peerage on Monday during a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party, when the prime minister rallied MPs behind his leadership.